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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29879568">Five minutes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohsoprecious/pseuds/Ohsoprecious'>Ohsoprecious</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vexeris Trevelyan [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Not Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser DLC Compliant, Post-Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:55:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,413</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29879568</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohsoprecious/pseuds/Ohsoprecious</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>it's been a year since Dorian left. Vex doesn't take it well and is a little broken.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dorian Pavus/Male Trevelyan, Male Inquisitor/Dorian Pavus, Male Inquisitor/Iron Bull</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vexeris Trevelyan [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/318137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Five minutes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Companion piece to "I see myself in you"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A year. Exactly a year ago Dorian left, bound for Tevinter.He'd promised he'd be back, in that time. Or at least he hoped he would be.</p><p>Vexeris Trevelyan had almost wished he'd fail miserably, so he'd come back, just as he'd said. But his Dorian wasn't the kind of man to fail easily. In fact, he seemed to be doing quite well.<br/>
And that just made it worse.</p><p>Apart from his political success, despite his reputation as a pariah, it seemed his father had a child on the way now, which meant the Pavus bloodline could continue, even though Dorian was still the official heir.<br/>
The rogue missed him. Immensely so. The long evenings together, talking, making love, or even simply relaxing. Fighting together was one of the things he missed most. He'd tried to substitute him, with several mages. None of them fit, not like Dorian did. First Vivienne, then a couple of others, Hawke included. He'd given up after a time.</p><p>This was to be a sad anniversary indeed. And while he appreciated Josephine's attempt at cheering him up, a grand ball was not what he had in mind or needed.<br/>
He couldn't get drunk at a ball, not with all the nobles watching him. Thank the Maker for Bull, at least. The qunari was, as per usual, his shadow, and his presence kept most of them away.</p><p>All he truly wanted, was to be alone. Find a bottle to drink and fall on his bed, where he could dream of his lover.</p><p>"Boss, you might want to dial down the glare. You're scaring the riffraff."</p><p>He raised an eyebrow, but Bull simply shrugged, completely unfazed.</p><p>"Maybe that was my intention."</p><p>He gave him a long look, a sad almost pitiful look, one Vexeris couldn't stand, looking away. They both knew what was wrong with him. They all knew it. Ever since Dorian left, he'd been different. It was as if the mage had taken a part of him and hadn't given it back, before he left.<br/>
Leaving the Inquisitor broken. The short visit, about six months before hadn't been nowhere near enough.</p><p>Trevelyan fingered the golden amulet on his chest, a habit he'd started, making sure the metal snake was still there. His advisors had tried to have him take it off, but, while he knew that having a Tevinter birthright tied around his neck wasn't a wise political move, he didn't care.</p><p>"Vex! I don't remember you sulking this badly since I stole that dagger of yours."</p><p>Maxwell Trevelyan, his older brother was here, as well. He looked away, scowling.</p><p>"Maybe it's because you're here, Max," he said.</p><p>"Right."</p><p>His brother's smile died, grasping his younger sibling's shoulder, trying to shake him out of his reverie.</p><p>"What is it, Vex? You can't hate this party that much, can you? At least you're in Skyhold, not at the Winter Palace. No one will stab you for using the wrong spoon."</p><p>The Inquisitor took Max's hand away, scowling.</p><p>"It's none of your business."</p><p>The man was about to ask the qunari for help, when another man approached, looking quite smug. From Tevinter. Vexeris would recognize that carefully studied appearance everywhere.<br/>
A birthright on his neck, so most likely a magister or an Altus. Another guest Josephine invited to further the Inquisition's influence. She might've done more, if her leader was a more patient man.</p><p>"My Lord Inquisitor, such an honor to meet you. I've heard so much about you, I can scarcely believe I am here now," he said, bowing with a flourish of his arm.</p><p>"Likewise," he responded, strained. He was really in no mood for polite small talk. Not tonight.<br/>
He tried to leave, but the man continued.</p><p>"It's true what I've heard, then. Given the power and influence you possess, I didn't believe the rumors that pegged you as such a handsome man. I am....most delighted I was mistaken."</p><p>Was he....checking him out? The man was definitely flirting, but that wasn't new, as much as he hated it, since they very well knew he had Dorian. But none had been actually this brazen before.</p><p>Bull chuckled behind him, while his brother rolled his eyes and excused himself, stepping away.</p><p>"Thanks....I guess."</p><p>He was unsure how to react. While he'd easily dismissed a few flirty looks, this was the first time since Dorian himself, someone had so brazenly expressed an interest.</p><p>"My pleasure, Lord Inquisitor. I must say, when Lord Pavus spoke of you, he didn't do you justice. Indeed I find your, as he called it, southern barbarian look, quite....enthralling."</p><p>He winked, but all his carefully studied posturing, a hand placed just so, clothing a bit too revealing for the climate, were lost on Vexeris.</p><p>"You know Dorian?"</p><p>"I do. We studied together for a short time. But I truly got to know him these past few months. I am a magister and he seeks my vote, as it may."</p><p>"I see," he said, keeping his voice neutral.</p><p>"It's sad what happened between you two. In his shoes I certainly wouldn't have let someone like you go."</p><p>"What?" he croaked out, coming to a standstill. What was the man talking about?</p><p>The man hesitated, realizing he'd stepped on the proverbial minefield, before speaking again. Albeit more carefully.</p><p>"I was under the impression that there'd been a separation between the two of you. Lord Pavus never mentioned otherwise."</p><p>Vexeris eyes squinted and the Tevinter mage got a taste of why he was feared by many, feeling more like a little boy about to be found out, rather than a magister. He even risked a glance at the qunari bodyguard, but the man was watching him just as attentively.</p><p>"My....love life is my own, serah," he said, though an idiot could detect the anger brewing underneath those polite words," but, just to be clear, there has been no such thing as a <em>separation</em>," he concluded, growing increasingly stormy.</p><p>The mage made a hasty retreat, his plans for a fun night and future bragging rights gone, before anyone noticed his blunder. He barely noticed the qunari pushing the Inquisitor past one of the guarded doors, looking around, quite worried.</p><p>"Boss, we really need to talk," Bull started, ignoring the death glare.</p><p>"Save it. I know I overreacted. That man isn't at fault if Dorian doesn't tell people he's fucking taken."</p><p>"Ah, that's not what I...."</p><p>The atmosphere shifted abruptly, as the rogue's anger died, slumping my down on the stone bench nearest to them and only the sadness came through.</p><p>"Bull, if I asked you to....."</p><p>"No," he responded immediately, knowing, even perhaps before him, what Vex was going to say.</p><p>"Dorian set me on fire for a drunken kiss. I won't have sex with you."</p><p>"I know, I .....I don't even know what I want...." he said, looking defeated.</p><p>The qunari shifted, slightly uncomfortable. He was unused to this. No one, apart from Dorian, had seen the weaker side of Trevelyan. To him and almost all the others he was the Inquisitor, a friend yes, that could be stupid, funny, inappropriate but always held that larger than life appeal. Now, now he looked just like an ordinary man. A lost one.</p><p>"I just.....I need not to think, for 5 minutes. I need to...."</p><p>"It would take a lot more than 5 minutes, believe me."</p><p>The attempt at humor was lost in him, as the man simply sighed, standing up again, trying to compose himself.</p><p>That's when Bull felt, for the first time, pity for the man. Dorian had always been by his side, even before they got together. While others continuously wondered how Vex could stand the mage's incessant whining when traveling, or his never ending commentary, he knew it was because Dorian's barbed sense of humor was the thing that kept him grounded, that kept him from being overwhelmed by having the entire world on his shoulders.<br/>
Before their feelings for each other, before everything else, it was his ability to make Vexeris laugh in the worst situations that the man was crippled without.</p><p>"We should take the servants stairs, to my room. The tavern is empty now. No one will look for us there."</p><p>His mouth opened in surprise, before he gave him a tiny smile.</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>"Yes, really. I can't exactly deny that I've wanted to. And....no restraining, right?"</p><p>"How do you know?"</p><p>"Intuition. And you just confirmed it."</p>
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